The invention relates to a fluidizing-cell column.
Flat-plate fluidizing cell columns have been used, for example, in mass-transfer operations for removing byproduct-containing mother liquors adhered to a crystallized product as so-called residual moisture. (See German Pat. No. 23 55 106.) The inclined installation of these flat plates which, on the one hand, must be mounted in the column so as to be mechanically stable, and which, on the other hand, must leave openings for the passage of the fluid between the inside wall of the column and the inclined plate (which occupies the major portion of the column cross section), is not without problems.
To prevent the leakage flow of particles which also can occur at the openings between these flat plates and the inside wall of the column, it has been proposed to construct the plates so that each forms a curved surface with its edge bearing against the column wall with stress. One or more openings are then provided for the passage of the stream of formed. (See German patent application DOS No. 27 35 972.)
In these prior-art arrangements, the column diameter is limited to about 1.5 meters. The efficiency of fluidizing-cell columns with flat inclined plates or with curved plates, expressed as the height of a theoretical plate between two actual plates, is not fully satisfactory for all applications. In combination with the mechanical difficulties with plate-like, inclined structures in a column, the problems have prompted unsuccessful efforts to find a better solution. Thus there has been an unfilled need to develop a fluidizing-cell column with increased output, a larger cross-sectional area, and simplified installation of plates.